Auburn coach Gus Malzahn has called Georgia one of the most talented teams in the country, and maybe the most talented days ahead of their meeting on The Plains on Saturday.

Malzahn noted that Georgia’s run defense has yet to give up a rushing touchdown, something he claimed hasn’t happened in 20 years in college football.

“They’ve got a lot of defensive linemen they play,” Malzahn said. “When they put other guys in there, there really isn’t a drop off. … They’re solid on the back end too, they’ve got some guys that can really run.”

Malzahn was asked about moving the series to earlier in the season, and he said he’d have to check on that next year because it feels natural to play Georgia this late in the season.

“I’m glad we’re playing at home against one of our rivals,” he said.

Malzahn said it’s completely different to play at home, for QB Bo Nix for example, because the players can hear and operate better.

“I think it’s a real positive that we’re playing at home, specifically for him,” he said.

Coaching against Kirby Smart gives Malzahn a chance to check himself and earlier tendencies because they’ve faced each other so many times.

“In the off weeks it’s not just about the next opponent, sometimes you get a chance to look at yourself,” Malzahn said. “We’ve done that, just like we did the first time, but you have a little more information than you did the first half of the season.”

Malzahn was asked about Nix being familiar with the rivalry being a factor in the game.

“We’re getting to the point where this game is real important, I think everybody understands that,” Malzahn said. “But the Auburn people, the Georgia people know exactly how important it is. I think if you’ve got a quarterback who’s grown up and understands it, I think it could be a positive.”

Here’s the video of Malzahn’s press conference from Auburn Athletics: